Hey guys! Sorry it took so long to post, but my computer has literally been freezing up like crazy and gobbling up all my fanfictions. I finally got this written. This chapter isn't really anything special, but I guess it'll do. Leave a review. Thanks. (:

The summer passed rather quickly. Remus spent most of his time creating lesson plans for his new teaching job at Hogwarts, but sometimes he would get lost in his thoughts and not be able to concentrate. Sometimes he thought about Tonks, who was getting married sometime in December to that stupid prat Alfred. Occasionally, he thought about Harry Potter, the son of two of his best friends, who he would be able to meet in just a short couple of months. He wondered what he would say to the boy, whether or not he should introduce himself as Remus Lupin, a friend of Lily and James Potter, or if he should just let him believe that he was nothing but another DADA professor.

In late July, Remus received an urgent copy of the Daily Prophet from Kingsley. Remus took it carefully, wondering what Kingsley could possibly be so worked up about, but as soon as he flipped it over to the front page, he knew. There, staring right back up at him, was the face of an old friend. It was the face of a traitor, a murderer, a prisoner. Sirius Black.

"How did he escape?" Remus asked bitterly as he stared at the moving picture of Sirius holding his prison number and laughing maniacally. "No one helped him, did they?"

Kingsley shrugged. "No one has any idea how the man got out. Did you read the article?"

Remus glanced down at the tiny print on the creased white page, and he threw it onto the coffee table in disgust. He didn't want to read the article. He thought that he was done with all of his old friends from Hogwarts. James, Lily, and Peter were dead, and it was all Sirius's fault. He hated Sirius with a burning passion, and while contemplating the escape from Azkaban, Remus realized that if he were the one to find Sirius, he would kill him. Then maybe, just maybe, he would feel a little more at ease with his life.

"It says he's been saying some nonsense about someone being at Hogwarts," Kingsley said, breaking Remus from his murderous thoughts. "I wonder what that could mean."

Remus didn't really care what it meant. It had absolutely no effect on him. He tried to continue working on his lesson plans, but now that Kingsley was there and the news had reached him, he knew that he wouldn't be able to concentrate. He threw the paper to the coffee table in disgust and groaned loudly, trying to think of a way that he could possibly kill his former best friend.

And then an idea hit him. Someone was at Hogwarts. Sirius had been talking about how someone was at Hogwarts, and no one had any idea what he could be talking about. Remus had a feeling that he knew exactly what Sirius was talking about, and that person that Sirius wanted at Hogwarts was Harry Potter. He wanted to finish off the Potter family once and for all.

"Harry Potter's at Hogwarts," he pointed out to Kingsley after a few minutes of silence. "You don't think that could be who he's after?"

Kingsley thought it over for a second, but he didn't say anything much about it. They couldn't jump to conclusions so quickly. "I just wish we had some idea how we could catch him. There are posters of him all over the place, in the wizarding world and in the Muggle world. He's a dangerous guy. Maybe we'll catch him in the next month. Otherwise, he'll probably be heading for Hogwarts." He stood in silence for a few more seconds before turning on his heel and walking out of the apartment. He was part of a squad that was searching for Sirius Black, and he wouldn't be at home much for a long time.

With Kingsley gone, Remus was left to stare at the front page of the newspaper lying out before him. He couldn't believe that Sirius had escaped from Azkaban. It was impossible. Everyone that was sent to Azkaban always ended up going crazy. But Sirius was sane enough to break out of the jail by himself, so that must mean that he was still just as dangerous as he was before. He honestly thought that when they were in school, Sirius was the only good member of the Black family. But Sirius had deceived them all.

Deciding that those lesson plans were never going to get done now, Remus got up from the couch and grabbed his wand from the kitchen counter. He would take a walk to clear his mind, although there was no point in it. All he could think about now was Sirius Black and how much he hated the man.

As soon as he opened the door, he saw Tonks standing in the hallway, her hand raised as if about to knock on the door and a look of panic clearly written on her face. She was clutching a newspaper in her other hand, which was still adorned with that big diamond engagement ring. He sighed. There was another thing that he had to worry about now.

"Remus, have you seen the newspaper?" she asked breathlessly, thrusting the paper into his hands and letting out a noise that sounded like a frightened child. "I can't believe he broke out! How can he do that? I thought that Azkaban was heavily guarded-"

"Aren't you supposed to be at Auror training?" Remus interrupted her, handing the paper back to her. He didn't want to talk to her right now. He didn't want to talk to anyone.

"Well, yeah," Tonks answered, not looking so panicked anymore. "But Mad-Eye is out searching for Sirius Black with a bunch of other Aurors, and he said that it was much too dangerous for us to go with him. So he let us go for the day. But we have to practice some spells for homework because he didn't want it to be a wasted day." She paused to take a breath, and then she continued. "I just can't believe that he broke out of prison! I don't understand how he did it. And how has no one found him? He couldn't have gotten far in one day, right? Someone must have spotted him."

"Go home and practice your spells, Tonks," Remus said, shutting the door and walking into the hallway with her. He locked it behind him and walked around her, pretending like she wasn't even there. Not only did he not want to discuss the escape from Azkaban, but he also didn't want to discuss her marriage plans, which he knew would be the next topic in their conversation.

"If you're teaching at Hogwarts, do you think you'll still be able to attend my wedding?" Tonks asked as she trotted beside him, still clutching the newspaper tightly in her hands. Remus knew how she functioned all too well. Every conversation that he had had with her all summer had been about the stupid wedding that shouldn't happen.

"I don't know," he lied. He knew that if he wanted to, he could attend the wedding. Dumbledore wouldn't have a problem with it. But he didn't want to attend the wedding at all, much less talk about it. It wasn't out of jealousy; it was simply the fact that he was concerned about Tonks. He didn't want her marrying into a family that she clearly didn't belong in. Alfred and his family had given her grief for the past year or more, and now they were all a sudden lovable? He didn't understand it.

"Do you think you could come with me to pick out some decorations one day?" she asked, as if she didn't know that the subject was bothering him. She knew that he hated talking about the wedding, and that's why she did it. She wanted to push him to his breaking point. If only he would just admit how he truly felt, then she could break it off with Alfred and be happy for once. But it didn't look like Remus was anywhere close to telling her how he truly felt, so she would just have to settle with second best until he was ready. She knew in her heart that Remus was hiding feelings.

"I could, I suppose," Remus replied, not wanting to be mean to her. He would probably end up not going anywhere with her to do anything. He couldn't stand talking to her right now, and he wished that she would just disappear.

"We're having it in the foyer of his house," Tonks said. "It's a huge room, and it'll hold a lot of people. It's beautiful, really. I couldn't imagine a better place to have a wedding." They were walking down the stairs now, and she wasn't paying attention to where her feet were going. She tripped over her own feet and gasped as she started to fall down, but Remus grabbed her arm just in time to hoist her back up.

"Watch where you're going," he said before continuing down the stairs without her. She followed after him, slowly this time to make sure that she didn't fall again.

As soon as Remus reached the bottom of the stairs, he pushed open the door and left the apartment building, not even holding the door open for Tonks. She face planted on the closing door and then shoved it open, following quickly after him now.

"There you are!" Remus looked over at the bench beside the building and groaned. Alfred had gotten up and was now heading their way. "I was wondering how much longer you would be. Remember, Mother wants us to meet her at that nice bridal shop to look at flowers to decorate with." He glanced at Remus before taking Tonks's hand in his and pulling her closer to him. "We must be off soon."

Tonks grimaced a little at the way her hand felt in his. It just didn't seem to fit. It made her almost sick to think that this was probably how it was going to be for the rest of her life. At least Alfred was acting halfway human now…she might be able to deal with him.

And then she looked at Remus cautiously. He was already staring directly at her, his brown eyes meeting her green ones, and she sighed. "You want to come with us?" she asked. She felt Alfred stiffen from beside her, but then he loosened up. "We could use someone else's opinion."

"Yes, we could," Alfred said, letting go of her hand suddenly and taking a couple of steps away from her. "That's why Mother hired a wedding planner. She's the best in the wizarding world. You'll love her. Now, come on. We mustn't be late for our meeting." He threw his arm around her shoulder and pulled her forward as he began to walk away from the apartment building.

Tonks looked behind her at Remus and smiled a little as she waved a goodbye to him. Remus waved goodbye as well, and then Tonks frowned and turned back around. Alfred then cast a look behind him, and his eyes landed upon Remus. He mouthed something to him as he waved, something that looked a whole lot like, "Bye, wolf."

Remus's jaw locked as Alfred grinned and turned back around. How could Alfred possibly know anything about his state? He hadn't told anyone that could have told him anything. And then the thought hit him like a ton of bricks, and a dreadful pain shot through his chest. Tonks had told Alfred about him. That was the only way that he could possibly know anything.

Feeling angrier than ever before, Remus set off on his walk, his wand clutched a little too tightly in his hand. He heard the wand make a snapping noise, and he let out a low growl and stuffed it into his pants pocket. It seemed as if everything was going wrong all of a sudden. He was never going to be able to teach at Hogwarts.

And then another realization hit him. As soon as he reached Hogwarts, he would have to come face-to-face with his old enemy, Severus Snape. His old enemy would be making the potion that determined whether or not Remus would cause any harm to students or faculty. He didn't trust the man at all, but under Dumbledore's supervision, he might as well set their differences aside and act like the mature adult that he was. He couldn't hold a grudge about things that happened almost twenty years ago.

Remus's thoughts stopped racing after he walked past a couple who were talking in hushed tones on the sidewalk. He could have sworn that he heard them say something about Sirius Black, and he turned around to face them. They were still talking quietly, and he saw them holding out a copy of the newspaper. There was Sirius's face again, staring right back at him in mockery. It was as if he was challenging Remus to try to kill him. Remus could very easily take up that challenge.

When the couple looked up and saw him gazing at the front of the newspaper, the woman said, "I sure do hope they catch him soon. We're all in danger while he's on the loose."

Remus nodded and glanced down at the paper again. "They'll have him soon."

And they would, because Remus was going to be the one to find him and kill him.